So
I wondered to myself, [why aren’t female condoms as popular as their male
counterparts?] Why hasn’t this supposed symbol of women’s sexual liberation
taken off? It gives the woman the power to protect herself without having to rely
on or convince the man to wear a condom himself. I would like to assume that since
science has offered us another alternative to have protected sex, on our terms
(I speak of women here) many of us would jump on the bandwagon. However, many
of us (well, many of the people I have spoken to) have been reluctant to use
it. I went about my usual excavations of people’s thoughts, asking unsuspecting
participants that same question. The responses were not very partial to the
female condom. So, I decided to tally up a list of pros and cons of female
condom use, FC for short. This is what I came up with.
Pro: The original FC is made from polyurethane
and unlike latex, which is used for most male condoms, is less likely to cause
allergic reactions. It is in fact recommended for people with latex allergies. The
newer female condoms, FC2 (yes, female condom the sequel) are made from
nitrile, which is purportedly cheaper to produce than polyurethane condoms. The
FC and FC2 do not have any specific storage requirements and both polyurethane
and nitrile conduct heat so well that the sexual sensation is not lost. You can
also use it with water-based or oil-based lubricant. (I wonder if they could make
a studded female condom, how would that feel?)
Con: The female condom
is technically cumbersome! The condom itself is a slippery mechanism, difficult
to manoeuvre at best. Most sexperts, doctors and sourced websites suggest that
a woman may have to use the condom more than three times to get the hang of it.
The most problematic issue is that to extract the FC, you have to be in a position
where the manly seed does not spill out. (Sigh. But I suppose all condom use
needs practice.)
Pro and Con: If a female condom
is inserted too soon before intercourse, there is a plastiky sound during sex.
It sounds like someone tip-toeing through a swamp polluted with Pick N Pay
shopping bags. So, the condom has to be in the woman’s body for more than an
hour or so before sex. In fact, the condom can be inserted up to 8 hours before
coitus. In that regard, it does not really have to kill the spontaneity of the
sex act. But let’s think about this for a second. Foreplay should (ideally)
take about a couple of minutes (or hours) anyway. By the time you are ready for
any type of intercourse, so too will the female condom. The condom is probably
intended for long nights of passion, the type found in Mills and Boons, when his hard throbbing manhood must plunge into the longing, empty
void. (A side thought, they allow these books into public libraries but will
not allow DSTV to have a porn channel.) The FC might not be helpful for a
quickie. Some folk could argue that it makes you look presumptuous to fit the
female condom a whole 8 hours before prospective
sex. Is it not the same thing as having condoms in your room though? Always
ready and prepared just in case?
Pro and Con: Using a female
condom is comparable to using a tampon. But the FC has lubricant to make it easier
to insert than a tampon. Although, there is a large section of the population
that do not like using tampons. My vagina protested to being frequently prodded
with foreign objects after a life-changing experience with a super absorbent
tampon. The vagina’s protest came as an attack of colossal period pains. I have
since downgraded. My point is tampons take a while getting used to, the same
goes for the female condom. Only you can say whether the initial discomfort is
worth it in the end. Most female condoms have a ring which is used to insert
the condom and stays inside during coitus. This inner ring of the FC has to
stay inside to hold the condom in place and also so that the condom does not
bunch up in side the vagina. I took one of those rings and albeit with a slight
struggle, it went through my hand and fit snugly around my wrist. I gasped!
Again, the FC takes some time getting used. But,
there are new designs of the FC that have replaced the ring with a sponge that have
taken off in India
and elsewhere.
Con: Speaking of India
and elsewhere, female condoms aren’t the most accessible type. Is the condom
with a sponge available in South
Africa? While you can get a pack of Lovers’ Plus or Trust from your nearest BP (or in the case of University students, free
government condoms from dispensaries in the Library and residence bathrooms),
the female condom is a little harder to find. They are often snuck somewhere
deep in the complicated maze of medicinal products in the pharmacy. Or
dispensed by medical staff at clinics and other medical centres I would rather
not go to unless I am truly ill. I cannot even name an FC brand but Durex, Rough Rider, Casanova, Dr Lee’s
condoms and such come to mind at the drop of a hat. Can you name any female
condom brands? How much is a female condom anyway? The limited access might
have more to do with the fact that [governments have invested more in male
condoms than they have in female ones.] It costs about R1 to produce a male
condom and about R6-7 to produce a female one. Even so, it would be nice to
have the option. I still can’t tell the difference between a studded Rough Rider and a studded Durex condom but it’s still a ‘variety’.
Even if companies and governments do not invest much in the FC, they could at
least invest enough to make it an option in the stores.
Con: The female condom
is not aesthetically pleasing. Neither is an erect penis, even if you did put in
a Christmas box. (Remember Dick in a Box?)
First of all, the outer ring of the FC stays outside the vagina so that you can
pull it out, the same as the string on a tampon. This can make even the most
sexually confident woman self-conscious. Second, the FC is sometimes defined as
a pouch. A pouch. I find that disturbing if not off-putting to the marketing
potential of the FC or the FC2. It does
not help that the FC actually does look like pouch, almost like a child’s piggy
bank. The FC is about the same length as a male condom but male condoms have to
be rolled out, so you do not really know how long it is until it is on the
penis.
But
doctors and other sexperts suggest the outer ring can be used in sex play. Sex
play. I imagine a private strip show, gyrating my hips in front my sexual
partner, bending my body into impossible pretzel shapes, with a chair as my
prop. At the end, seated on the chair, I spread my legs and insert the condom
in front my partner. I imagine it would look as though I were playing with
myself. My biggest concern is not inserting it while my partner watches but it is
the ring dangling outside my naughty bits. I attempt another scenario where my
partner inserts the condom for me as part of ritualistic foreplay, which is
quite sexy. But that outer ring…I personally cannot imagine a scenario where
the FC can be sexy. Can you?
Pro: The female condom has
a failure rate of 5%, when used properly. The success of the female condom
rests on the penis going directly into it during intercourse. Meaning that
every time a man enters you, you must guide him into the condom holding the
mouth of the condom in place. This might also be a con. My whole discussion has
assumed the use of the FC for heterosexual sex. For homosexual men, the FC
might also be helpful for anal sex but the inner ring must be taken out.
However, there is a risk of rectal bleeding. I suppose lesbian lovers could use
the female condom too but I am not exactly sure how.
List of sources
A
bunch of people I could not quote directly or reference because they were
oblivious to my investigation
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